Why I'm Episcopalian

“We are a catholic church in love with freedom.” That’s what the late bishop Paul Moore told me when I interviewed him for my video series, The Story of the Episcopal Church (1988). It’s hard to pin down our sprawling Anglican identity to a few words, but the bishop’s concise phrase comes close. Yes, we are deeply grounded in things ancient and universal, but we also have a propensity to explore fresh expressions and new perspectives, with no overriding authority to tell us no. When my seminary dean handed me my diploma, he did not warn me never to rock the boat as a priest of the church. What he said was, “Don’t ever lose your guts.”